It’s one of the most complicated — and most talked-about — national selections of the year. And tonight in Barcelona the Operación Triunfo Eurovision Gala finally exploded on our screens. In the end lovebirds Alfred & Amaia walked away with the win — and the ticket to Eurovision 2018 — with their song “Tu canción”.
The couple, whose blossoming relationship has endeared them to the nation, started their performance opposite each other on opposing pianos. But as their harmonies swelled they stood and eventually held hands and caressed, convincing viewers that this wasn’t merely a duet. It was love.
As wiwiblogger Bernardo wrote ahead of the final:
“Few Eurovision acts can claim they have everything working for them. And yes, I’m already calling this a Eurovision act. ‘Tu canción’ has the best melody I’ve heard in this year’s national final season. Amaia is magic. Amaia and Alfred together are magnetic. The song creates a mood for itself and the staging is even going to elevate it further. The power of love in its essence is unbeatable. We shouldn’t give scores, but I’m putting it out there. It’s a 10 out of 10.”
OT 2017: The Superfinal
Following the first nine performances, the public voted and the top three acts advanced to a sing off. They were: Aitana with “Arde”, Almaia with “Tu canción”, and Aitana & Ana Guerra with “Lo Malo”.
Aitana’s performance of Arde saw the singer standing on a set of stairs before an LED wall with her own image. She was sultry and vocally on-point, demonstrating the confidence of a seasoned performer. And rightly so. She transformed a demo into a song that is now well and truly hers — and looked absolutely stunning as she did so. She may not be going to Eurovision, but surely she will contend in the OT final next week.
With “Lo Malo”, Aitana and Ana really turned things up. They oozed the sass and energy the song requires, delivering a song of female empowerment — but also an empowering song for us all. Their costumes had major sex appeal — a barely-there dress for Ana and hip-hugging jeans and a shear top for Aitana — and they had chemistry with both each other and their posse of backing dancers. They wanted to go to Eurovision…and they came pretty darn close.
Almaia finished with 43% of the vote in the super final, followed by Aitana’s “Arde” (31%) and Aitana & Ana’s “Lo Malo” (26%).
Interestingly, the three songs in the superfinal were also the top three in our pre-gala poll on wiwibloggs. You can see those pre-contest results below.
WIWIBLOGGS PRE-GALA POLL RESULTS
- Alfred & Amaia “Tu canción” 42.12% (2,580 votes)
- Aitana & Ana Guerra “Lo malo” 17.75% (1,087 votes)
- Aitana “Arde” 17.03% (1,043 votes)
- Amaia “Al cantar” 5.57% (341 votes)
- Miriam “Lejos de tu piel” 4.98% (305 votes)
- Alfred “Que nos sigan las luces” 4.03% (247 votes)
- Ana Guerra “El remedio” 3.77% (231 votes)
- Agoney & Miriam “Magia” 2.76% (169 votes)
- Aitana, Alfred, Amaia, Ana Guerra & Miriam “Camina” 1.99% (122 votes)
Total Votes: 6,125
What do you make of tonight’s result? And how do you think Spain will do at Eurovision? Would you tweak the staging? Sound off down below…
This is the story of my life that i am still pondering upon even as i write this article.I maybe judged and i may not be but even if i am judged, no one can ever know my real personality or family.I have been asking myself if i should let the world know about this or maybe i should just keep it to myself cos most people might think am crazy.All the same am telling my story. my husband has four kids and we have a happy family.It wasn’t always just like that.Before my husband, i have been married to… Read more »
This song has many advantages for me:
It’s in Spanish, it’s original, sweet, there is chemistry and I can see this beautifully put on a big stage. This can be a wonderful performance!
However, I can’t say I love the song. It’s a good song. The chemistry is what makes this entry really good.
It’s not original, it’s a cheesy, inspired “copy” of what the Sobrals did. It’s a song contest, not chemistry contest.
Crazy spaniards! What about Chico malo? I really don’t know if you like being losers
Urrrg I hope we wont get more copycats of Salvador like this.
The song is indifferent at best, the girl can sing much better than her and when they started dancing I cringed so hard. Spain’d better start praying that they ” oh a cute couple ” votes will help them avoid the bottom 5… again.
This sounds like a Junior Eurovision song, I’m sorry. Wrong forum in my opinion. Sugary, childish and cringy
and of course you are… Spanish.
I don’t compare it with Salvador Sobral, but here 80% hated it. Eurovision has changed.
Salvador was not hated at all. He was first/second in odds since the start.
From position of not knowing about ‘something’ in that selection, I also thought that either Arde or Lo Malo would be better option. But well, who cares now.
Alfred voice is the only positive moment in song for me, regardless of his effort.
It is cute and Amaia is great, I’ll give them that. But Lo Malo was a BOPPPPPPP!
Please follow my blog ?https://marioeurovision2018.wordpress.com/
They are very charming and sings very well. But other than that, I don’t believe at all in this song, sorry. it’s too much. Too sweet, too dripping with beautiful feelings, too whiny.
When Ed Sheeran sings “Perfect”, it’s adorable, but he never falls into the cutesy. He remains in the emotion, in the confession, but not in the bestowal. That’s what makes “Perfect” a jewel.
There is too much of it with this cancion. And in the end, we are on the brink of indigestion.
Boring. Boring. Boring!
I’m not really what to make of this. It’s…cute, but that’s it, I’m not getting the urge to listen to it again. Maybe they should rework the production, similar to the duet in The Greatest Showman between Zac Efron & Zendaya or the song Never Enough from the same soundtrack. Not 100% revamp, but give it a bit of an edge as it’s too saccharine at this stage. Well, at least the public chose it & are happy with it.
I’m puzzled by all the negative comments.
The song is lovely, their voices sound fantastic together, and they both come across as charming and super likeable. Why does it matter if they’re really a couple or not? It’s a PERFORMANCE. I think the general Eurovision audience will show lots of support in May.
Another boring song with poor presentation.
And seems he’s a cheap imitator of Salvador.
Dissapointing.
Lo Malo was way better than this, sorry to say.
Ohhhh this reminds me of Running Scared…
This is bad… Fortunately for Spain, they pay to be in the final…
And I don’t see any connection to ‘Amar pelos dois’, which is a work of art. ‘Tu canción’ is a musical cream pie. I recommend to keep your insulin shots at hand when watching this in May.
So I haven’t been following this contest at all- I don’t know of the story between those two. From what I’ve seen on twitter they are a real life couple that fell in love during this show or something? But all I can think about is, what if their love is over by the time of the eurovision final? I mean, they don’t seem much older than me. Lots of relationships don’t last a few months… I’m just imagining how awkward it would be to have to sing this song to your ex. XD I hope for them they stay… Read more »
This is more than cynical, is very destructive to dismiss young love like this. People fall in love when they are young, and build a life together, not when they are 40 and too old to have children without IVF.
Young people have more crushes than they fall seriously in love for each other. You cant call it love if they havent experienced a relationship outside that house and tv show.
I’ve fallen in love in my 40’s
I’ve fallen in love in my 40’s, love not only happens when you are young, it can happen at any age.
I think it’s awful. It is saccharine, schmaltzy and frumpish. I rarely say this and feel bad saying this but I really hope that they’ll bomb big time come May. This song is so wrong for ESC in 2018 imo.
Lovely performance. Great voices. I find the song itself average though
Flop. Bottom 5.
Well anything is better than last year. But it will probably end up in bottom 5 like every Spanish entry. The fact that it tries to copy last year’ s winner wont help it either.
Wow. I’m actually quite enchanted by it, the two of them have very beautiful voices perfectly suited for this type of song. It is generic but it is executed very well, so I don’t mind the formulaic approach. It could easily flop hard at Eurovision, or do quite well, depending on how well it is staged. Personally, I wanna see it on top for sure. Thank you for this Spain. That’s the first time I like your entry since I have started watching the competition.
Yet another flop from Spain
Fake love couple , fake smile of singers, and we have with that and fake love song.
1.France
2.Albania
3.Czech Republic
4.Spain
I mean, you may not like the song, you may not like the singers but fake? Really? They are a real couple, we’ve all seen them fall in love live in OT, through YouTube. As for Amaia, she’s the most spontaneous, real person we’ve all watched in many, many years.
I didn’t follow OT, so Tu Cancion is my first impression. I have to say that IMO it’s my #4 out of the selected songs, but then I like the other 3 a lot, so that hasn’t to mean a bad thing. Amaia comes across splendidly, very good performer, clear voice. They just should give her a dress to shine a little more. Alfred, to me, is – let’s say – irritating. I don’t know if he was nervous or if he always sounds like that, but here his voice is disturbing me. The song is sweet, but also kind… Read more »
Its My topp 3. But he cant sing, sorry
First thing I need to address is that I didn’t watch this national final – I heard the competing songs, but that’s it. After I saw this performance my first impression was: “Why should I care for this boring balad sung by two singers pretending to be in love?” I can’t say I dislike it though – it’s just so boring. Both singers sound too tired and their voices are failing at the end, even though Amaia sounded kinda nice in the begining.
2/10 from me
It is clear that everything around Spain in eurovision will be full of eudrama and hatred against TVE, but I seriously don’t see the problem this year: Almaia were the favorites from the first minute, the song is quite beautiful, they look good together and they won with 100%televoting, fair and square. You don’t like the song? Fine, there will be other 42 songs this year. You don’t like ballads? Also fine, there will be some dance music as well. But this way of trying to put down these two singers is scary, please stop. I still remeber all the… Read more »
I didn’t follow OT, but after listening to the songs I gotta say Amaia could probably sing out the EBU rulebook and make it sound romantic. What a charming voice she has. Frankly, she could just sing the winning song by herself, as far as I’m concerned.
The song itself is pretty and has a memorable chorus. One strike against is the cloying sweetness, though. They really can’t overdo the staging with this one or it’ll just be silly. Let them just sit on two high stools and sing it at each other or something… And ditch the horrid suits.
First time I’d heard that, i really enjoyed it, they do have great chemistry and the song has a really timeless feel and is something that could potentially connect with viewers across Europe, but it could also be easily forgotten and I think maybe a more prominent melody might help that. I’m not sure this will put them back in the top ten, but we’re 4/4 good songs so far, this is my second favourite after Lie to Me.
It’s not a terrible entry – I certainly prefer it to last year! But I find it far too sickly sweet. I’ve got not nothing against gentle songs but this one does nothing for me. Other people were moved by their chemistry but I found myself cringing through the whole performance. All the best though Spain.
OK, that song is not my cup of tea but damn, they’re cute. Best of luck, Spain! 🙂
To everyone saying we are having too many slow songs and its the worst year ever (Seriously this happens every year this year just makes no sense for the complaint.) Albania is a very upbeat rock song with anthemic qualities sung by a male vocalist with an amazing range. France Its mid tempo, slow is Amar Pelos Dios but this is not that nor is it slow or uninteresting, it relies on a connection with the singer and they do this quite lovingly through their performance, an the ending chant of Mercy Mercy Merci is not a slow thing. Czech… Read more »
Boring song, it reminds me od San Marino 2015, just not that good haha.
OMG! We might have an Eurovision winner already! This is magical! The chemestry between the two is so enchanting. And the harmony of their voices are perfect. His voice is so touching and sensitive. And of course the song is so harmonic and sweet. Finally Spain has something to offer and with home-grown talent, and not something popped up by a machine somewehere else. Let’s make the Eurovision stay in Iberian Peninsula! Let’s do it!
Here we go again, the outdated man is back. For the love of God, we’re not in the early 80’s anymore, this song is so bland…it won’t make it higher that 20th spot in the grand final. Winner :))))))))))))))))) Give us a break, will you?
The Romanian ageist racist sexist hysterical coward with the thousend nicknames is here, assuming knowing my age. First of all, you might be older than I am, for all you know. Secondly, all that was said last year about Salvador… Enough said.
Top 3. But he cant sing. Sorry
Can’t he? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCRaZyUWgfg
Dave, i think he’s talking about this song.
Ok, I must admit that in this song he’s not showing his vocal skills.
Singing is not the main problem, but his facial expressions are awful and the song goes nowhere and is not memorable.
When will we have a song celebrating the fact that we are single and happy about ourselves? That we dont need someone to make us happy or love us. It’s always love songs and kisses *cries*
amar pelos dois
gunther and d’sanz – love yourself
I worry. It’s a couple who got stuck in a music academy, together every 24h and fell in ‘love” there but what happens when they leave? in the real world……….?
Gosh except AlbaniaI love the other 3 entries so far! It’s gonna be so dificult to choose!
They’re cute, but that’s about it. Their song is not a memorable one, is not a song to gain votes. Too bad for all those week of preparations of OT, it looked promising but in the end Spain picked a cute, but bland act. After all these failures in the past years I thought Spain will fight and bring something different, now I start to believe they’re not able to understand what are they doing wrong. Maybe they just want to participate, not to win, not to gain a good result… In my opinion, Aitana with “Arde” was the best… Read more »
Such a sweet, talented duet. Some people may find it boring, but at least most spaniards are proud of their choice.
Spain have 2 better song then this.
My Top 4
1.Czech Republic
2.Albania
3.Spain
4.France
France and Spain out of TOP 15 in final. Both countries made mistake with choice of song.
France made a mistake, but Spain is happy, and I’m happy too. Why some people say is because of Salvador. This song is nothing like Amar pelos dois, and I’m sure Salvador hates it. Just because is slow, doesn’t mean Salvador likes it, for him is probably fast-food music too, just soap-opera version.
I love Spanish choice, is very relatable, not artsy snobbish like Amar pelos dois.
Alma fan, artsy, snobbish? lol far from it. It was different, relatable and above all, real. The spanish composer literally said that amar pelos dois inspired him to do this song and changed his perspective of the contest. If you think salvador will hate the song, you dont know him at all. A song about a couple that’s been in love for some weeks, maybe you’re right, soap opera version… Seriously you dont have to bash last winner to elevate your lovely choice, specially since it’s a song that helped Alfred getting over his depression.
Amar pelos dos and Salvador helped Alfred, i mean. Be respectful at least. The composer said he mostly wrote and sent pop and danceable music to spainish contest until last winner appeared. You wouldn’t have this song if it wasnt for Sobral, be glad.
Don’t even bother dignifiying that with a response. This person has only eyes and hears for Alma… (who by the way loved Amar pelos dois…)
France made the best choice .
Even juries think so:
5/10 juries in France rated mercy higher than ok ou ko
5/10 juries in France rated Mercy better or equal to Eva
The televote definitely picked mercy. So yeah
Spain chose the best option for points in final!! Jury should give this song points
When we see your last year predictions spain and france can be reassured
I love the song, i hate their voices, i hate the staging, i hate their attitudes, i hate RTVE’s favoritism towards them
What about their attitudes?
We all know that fake couple would won this and one of them OT.
Aitana lost because her votes was split in supefinal between 2 song. With only one song I think Arde would won .
I think Lo Malo was best choice for Spain, then Arde
My TOP 4 til now
1.Albania
2.Czech Republic
3.France
4.Spain
How can you know they are fake? Just a question 🙂
Booooooooring!
Any osng from Destination Eurovision beats this by miles!
My opinion: The song is a dud!! The duo’s chemistry in the live performance though elevated the song quite a few notches! Since none of the Spanish songs were in my ‘like or love range’ … this seems an OK entry for Spain. Will do way better than Manel Navarro! And Spain will not finish in the bottom position! They will be low on televote Probably (21-26) but the juries might give them points enough to be somewhere in the low 10s or high Twenties!! A revamp with more instrumentation will do you good else nothing will disguise the truth… Read more »
Thats Jamala and Sobral fault , Europe made winners the-most booring options and now this is gonna send huge waves to the selecting process in all countries. The slower the better , fast food music bad – slow food music good. Now a booring slow ballad wont stand out in the sea of slow ballads and the ones that DARES to define the trend will be the next winners
Jamala was not slow at all and she had many high notes. Have you checked other Nfs? it’s mostly pop music, which proves how wrong you are.
Except so far it doesn’t look like there is a trend of slow ballads going on.
I agree it’s Jamala and the Sobral’s fault… that finally the ESC is leaving behind its dark years of horrible cheesy songs and winners and getting some quality. And if that pushes away histerical fans with bad taste, the better.
Why hasnt the OT channel upload the guests performances? Does anyone know?